Reach Out and Touch Someone…From Prison

Posted December 13th, 2010 at 4:32 pm (UTC-4)
1 comment

How Mobile Phones are Increasingly Becoming a Threat in Jails

Andrew McIntyre is no school boy.  As the BBC reports, he had been convicted on numerous firearms and drug-related charges and was serving an eight-month sentence behind bars.

But that wasn’t enough to slow McIntyre’s burgeoning drug business.  From his jail cell he was able to direct his illegal operations by using smuggled mobile phones.

And use them he did: in one three month period McIntyre called or texted over six thousand times before being caught.

Earlier this month, also in Britain, prisoner Michael Long used a cell phone he illegally bought from a prison warden to record his life at Bullington Prison.  Worse, he emailed the images and videos to news agencies, which broadcast the images of lax security and other problems.

And today, showing the resourcefulness of those incarcerated, the New York Times is reporting that inmates in seven Georgia prisons…

“…have used contraband cellphones to coordinate a nonviolent strike this weekend, saying they want better living conditions and to be paid for work they do in the prisons.”

Correctional officers have known for years that as mobile phones become smaller, more powerful, and easier to connect to a variety of networks, they are also becoming one of the most highly-prized contraband items in prisons.  These phones have been used to threaten witnesses, direct payback ‘hits’ and even build illegal operations.

Now it seems the prisoners are getting smarter – not only communicating with the outside world, but among themselves.

As the adage goes, it seems information – like humans – wants to be free.

One response to “Reach Out and Touch Someone…From Prison”

  1. I like your web site, I was emailed the link, will bookmark you and visit again enjoyed reading Reach Out and Touch Someone…From Prison Digital Frontiers

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The Internet, mobile phones, tablet computers and other digital devices are transforming our lives in fundamental and often unpredictable ways. “Digital Frontiers” investigates how real world concepts like privacy, identity, security and freedom are evolving in the virtual world.

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